The Latest on Hurricane Laura:
The Associated Press The Latest on Hurricane Laura: LAKE CHARLES, La. — Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards said state officials now know of four deaths tied to Hurricane Laura. The deaths were all caused by trees falling on residences, Edwards said. None were on the coast, having happened in Vernon, Jackson and Acadia parishes. One death in Jackson in north Louisiana demonstrated the power of the storm, which made landfall as a Category 4 storm early Thursday, and traveled farther inland. Edwards said the current priority is search and rescue, followed by efforts to find hotel or motel rooms for those who have lost their homes. Hotel rooms are needed because conventional communal shelters pose a risk for spreading the coronavirus, he said. Edwards said storm surge was measured in the range of 9 feet to 12 feet (2.7 to 3.7 meters) — bad but far less than the 20 feet (6 meters) that had been forecast. He said that has led him to hope that there will be less water damage to homes close to the coast, and that damaged homes can be made habitable more quickly. LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Tropical Storm Laura is thrashing parts of southern Arkansas with powerful winds and heavy rainfall as the storm system lunges its way through the state after battering the Louisiana Gulf Coast. Downed trees and structural damage were reported in some parts of Arkansas at midday Thursday, and more than 30,000 homes and businesses in the state were without electricity. The National Weather Service says the damaging winds and torrential rains will be in the Little Rock area later Thursday afternoon and evening. Many schools canceled classes or had early dismissals in anticipation of Laura’s arrival. Forecasters say there’s also the risk of isolated tornadoes in the eastern part of the state. —- WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump says he will visit the Gulf Coast this weekend to tour damage from one of the fiercest hurricanes to hit the United States. Trump said he would visit Texas and Louisiana on Saturday or Sunday to survey the destruction caused by Laura, which Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards said has killed at least four people. Laura slammed the Gulf Coast early Thursday and roared through Louisiana. The bulk of the damage was reported in Louisiana. The storm barreled over Lake Charles, Louisiana, an industrial and casino city of 80,000 people. Extensive property damage has been reported; a floating casino that came unmoored hit a bridge. Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf told Trump that the situation on the ground “is fluid and challenging,” but the Federal Emergency Management Agency is responding. The hurricane’s top wind speed of 150 mph (241 kph) put it among the most powerful on record in the U. S. —- ORANGE, Texas — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says his state appeared to have made it through Hurricane Laura with minimal or no loss of life, which he said was a “miracle.” Abbott on Thursday described seeing roofs sheared off buildings and uprooted trees following aerial tour of the damage near the state border with Louisiana. The storm surge that was predicted to be as high as 10 feet (3 meters) before landfall wound up being closer to 3 feet (0.9 meters), he said. And nearly 12 hours after landfall, Abbott says there were still no confirmed fatalities. Abbott said about 8,500 people were served in Texas shelters. He said the state minimized potential loss of life because residents in the storm’s path heeded local advance warnings to evacuate. —- BATON ROUGE, La. — Greg Langley, spokesman for the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, said emergency crews in the Lake Charles area were working a fire at a chemical plant that handles chlorine for swimming pools, in an emergency that had area residents under a shelter-in-place directive. Monitors from agency workers in the area so far have failed to pick up indications of a chlorine leak, Langley said.
